Japanese Xbox 360 owners are already playing the Resident Evil 5 demo and it would've been a pretty awesome Christmas non-denominational holiday surprise for Capcom to release it in the States this week. That's not gonna happen but don't worry, it'll be here soon enough.

At an RE5 multiplayer last night, Capcom revealed to MTV Multiplayer that the demo will arrive in the West in "early 2009." Why the delay between Japan and here? Apparently there were unspecified complications, which either means bureaucratic bullshit or a zombie attack. Capcom told Shacknews previously that the demo would be available for PS3 and Xbox 360 in North America and presumably the two will be released around the same time.

Unfortunately, "early 2009" doesn't narrow it down at all. After all, the damn game comes out in early 2009 (March 13th in North America) so we could see the demo anywhere within that two-month stretch. Nice to know we'll get our hands on the demo but a specific date would be appreciated.